The Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN) share price has surged 9.38% higher to $5.60 in lunchtime trade. This jump comes after the company released a business update for the first 4 months of the 2021 financial year.

What did Nanosonics announce?

Nanosonics reported that sales of consumables, including its Sonex and NanoNebulant products, were up 4% in the 4 months to 31 October 2020 compared to the prior corresponding period (pcp). Additionally, sales of the same products were up 25% in the 4 months to 31 October 2020 when compared with the last 4 months of the 2020 financial year, during which the major impacts of COVID-19 were experienced.

Further highlights quoted in the report included: 

• In the four months to 31 October 2020, the number of new trophon units installed was 91% of the pcp with North America at 90% and EMEA at 119%
• The number of new trophon units installed in the first four months of FY21 was up 16% compared with the last four months of FY20. During this period, North America was up 14% and EMEA was up 64%.

Nanosonics CEO Matt Kavanagh commented on the outlook for the company, stating;

“Despite ongoing periods of uncertainty we remain optimistic about the future and investments in our growth agenda continue across the business as we look to further expand our geographical footprint and product portfolio.”

The company stated that it would release a more detailed business update at its AGM, scheduled for 24 November 2020.

About the Nanosonics share price

Nanosonics is a biotechnology company that specialises in technology for infection control. Nanosonics has been listed on the ASX since 2007.

In the year to 30 June 2020, Nanosonics had revenue of $100.1 million, an increase of 19% compared to FY19. The company had a net profit after tax of $10.1 million in the 2020 financial year, down 26% compared to the 2019 financial year.

The Nanosonics share price is up 38.15% since its 52 week low of $4.01, however, it is down 12.89% since the beginning of the year. Over the past 12 months, the Nanosonics share price has fallen 21.19%, compared to a drop of 10.1% for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (INDEXASX: XJO).

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• These were the worst performing shares on the ASX 200 last week

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The Atomo Diagnostics Ltd (ASX: AT1) share price has risen today following its annual general meeting presentation to investors.

During midday trade, shares in the medical diagnostics company are up 3% to 34 cents. In comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has dropped 0.8% to 6,213 points.

So, let’s take a look at what Atomos said in its AGM.

Key AGM highlights

• Revenue grew to $5.37 million, representing an increase of 10 times FY19’s annual sales. This was driven by the acceleration of the HIV rollout via Mylan, and the significant demand for COVID-19 test kits.
• Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) recorded a loss of $2.38, down from $4.08 million in FY19.
• Cash receipts in Q1 FY21 were $3 million, underpinned by sales from its COVID-19 antibody OEM business.
• Q1 sales reached approximately $2.5 million.
• Cash outflows are primarily related to building inventory levels, supply chain replenishment, investment in manufacturing, and research and development.
• The company reported $26.3 million in cash for the end of the September period.

How is Atomo progressing for FY21

Atomo advised it has completed a deal with Access Bio for its COVID-19 antibody testing devices. The agreement with the United States-based company will see an initial order of 250,000 units, supporting pending product launch.

Across the Pacific, DIVOC received an import permit for the Indian market, where evaluation for the product has been submitted. Product registration is anticipated to be achieved sometime in the current quarter.

In Australia, the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA) has approved the COVID-19 antibody test. Distribution agreements were signed with Health Solutions Group Australia for rapid deployment. Production capacity increased to 750,000 devices per month.

What’s next for Atomo?

The company listed its strategic priorities in continuing the expansion of its device sales via new OEM contracts. In completing this objective, Atomo appointed a US-based business development resource and started an OEM engagement program.

Launching new finished products in high value segments is also a major key milestone the company wishes to achieve. Atomo is negotiating with its partners on a number of potential products for existing markets.

Non-blood rapid testing is also seen as a huge avenue for growth. Emerging diagnostic technologies are predicted to compliment the current portfolio, leading to additional revenue streams.

How has the Atomo share price performed?

The Atomo share price isn’t far off its all-time low of 28 cents reached in June this year. Positive developments did leave the company’s share momentarily higher until late August. However, investor confidence has recently been slightly weak.

Only time will tell if Atomo can reach its all-time high of 63 cents from listing on the ASX back in April.

More reading

• Why the Atomos (ASX:AMS) share price is up 8% today
• The Austal (ASX:ASB) share price has dipped despite positive news
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 has another shocker as US election approaches
• Why the Fluence (ASX:FLC) share price is up 10% today
• Why the CV Check (ASX:CV1) share price is edging lower today

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) healthcare shares have surprisingly underperformed other sectors such as energy, consumer staples, financials and technology in October. This likely follows a prior period of outperformance due to COVID-related tailwinds for healthcare businesses. However, there were still market-leading winners amongst ASX 200 healthcare shares. Here are the best performers from October. 

October’s top performing ASX 200 healthcare shares

Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME) 

The Pro Medicus share price delivered a return of 20% in October. Interestingly, this wasn’t on any significant market sensitive news besides two contract wins signed across September and October. 

On 11 September, Pro Medicus signed a $25 million, 7-year deal with NYU Langone Healthcare. NYU is rated as one of the top ten hospitals in North America, operating an academic institution and multiple hospitals that are major health providers in their respective cities. On 15 October, Pro Medicus also signed a $10 million, 7-year deal with LMU Klinikum. LMU is one of the largest university hospitals in Germany and extends Pro Medicus’ footprint in the European hospital segment. 

Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) 

The Polynovo share price had been bouncing within the range of $2.10 to $2.40 between July and October. Its share price started to pick up momentum towards the end of October which saw it deliver a total return of 17% for the month. 

On 28 October, the company announced that its NovoSorb BTM product had received approval by the Taiwan FDA for sale in Taiwan. NovoSorb BTM is a man-made synthetic polymer that can be used to temporarily close wounds and aid the body in generating new tissue. Polynovo said it had contacted Evermed, a Taiwan-based distributor to sell BTM. Polynovo Managing Director, Paul Brennan, said, “Taiwan has an advanced health system and has a population of circa 23 million concentrated in three regions. The dermal matrix market in Taiwan has good potential for us in reconstructive surgery, trauma and burns.”

Resmed CDI (ASX: RMD) 

This ASX 200 healthcare share delivered its upbeat quarterly update on the last day of October which saw the Resmed share price jump almost 10% on the day. Across October, the Resmed share price delivered a total return of nearly 17%. 

The Resmed share price had already started to gain momentum at the start of October after hovering around 6 month lows. Its quarterly update provided a much needed boost in sentiment which highlighted a 10% increase in revenue to $751.9 million and a 27% increase in net operating profit. Its firm result was largely driven by strong sales across its mask product portfolio including increased demand for its ventilators due to COVID-19. 

Resmed’s standout performance in October has recovered most of its share price losses incurred earlier this year due to a weaker than expect FY20 result. This now brings the Resmed share price within 5% of its previous all-time high. 

More reading

• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Why the ResMed (ASX:RMD) share price smashed the market in October
• Big brokers upgrade Resmed (ASX:RMD) share price target
• Top brokers just upgraded the ResMed (ASX:RMD) share price and this other ASX stock
• Why the Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) share price rocketed 22% higher last month

Lina Lim has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of POLYNOVO FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ResMed Inc. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Atomos Ltd (ASX: AMS) share price is gaining ground today following the release of a positive trading update.

Shares in the video technology company surged up 8.7% to 68.5 cents in mid-morning trade before retreating to 67 cents at the time of writing. In comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has plummeted 0.8% to 6,214 points.

Trading update

For the month of October, Atomos reported solid growth as sales begin to recover to pre-COVID-19 levels. An uplift in demand saw its customers uptake its existing product lines. This was backed by the recent integration of ProRes RAW by major global camera manufacturers.

The company experienced monthly sales improvements greater than 50% in July, 60% in August, and 100% in September. The increase was compared to the sales run-rate during the second half of FY20, which it achieved $2 million per month.

In October, however, run-rate performance marked an acceleration of over 200% over H2 FY20. The strong momentum showed a return to pre-COVID sales, which is three months earlier than the previous guidance.

Atomos advised that while the product range was holding up, it remained cautious given the economic uncertainly. The company is aware that potential further lockdowns in the northern hemisphere could impact in its largest market.

Furthermore, Atomos noted that all costs thus far are in line with previous forecasts.

Atomos is seeking to launch a new steaming and live video product in the second quarter of FY21. Further details and trading updates will be announced at its AGM on 30 November.

What did the management say?

Commenting on the trading update, Atomos chair Chris Tait said:

We have been pleased with the continuing positive recovery momentum post the COVID-19 lockdown and the resulting improvement in the top line, which is off a lower cost base, and are seeing the benefits of the operational changes we made following the initial COVID outbreak.

Adding to Mr Tait’s comments, Atomos CEO Jeromy Young addressed the ProRes RAW accomplishment, saying:

Our decision to partner with Apple on ProRes RAW many years ago and to build out an ecosystem is starting to really bear fruit. The ProRes RAW format is now being embraced by all major camera companies globally and is having a strong positive impact on our revenue.

The bounce back has been significant in both ProVideo and Entertainment due to affordable 4KHDR and RAW workflows, in which our products are leaders.

About the Atomos share price

The Atomos share price is down almost 50% since the beginning of the year, reflecting weak investor sentiment from COVID-19. The company, however has slowly been on the mend, recuperating from its all-time low of 24 cents in March.

Atomos has a market capitalisation of $165.4 million and a negative earnings per share of 0.12.

More reading

• The Austal (ASX:ASB) share price has dipped despite positive news
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• Why the CV Check (ASX:CV1) share price is edging lower today
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Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Atomos Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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It can be an interesting insight to know what brokers think of an ASX dividend share. The problem is that a single broker can be wrong or biased.

If you can get a consensus among brokers about which shares are best, then that may give a clue about what to buy and what to avoid.

Every so often MarketIndex collates the broker recommendations of 150 ASX shares and totals the buys, holds and sells for those shares. The higher or lower the average score the more of a strong buy, buy, hold, sell or strong sell that share is rated.

The below shares have dividend yields above 5% and a market capitalisation above $1 billion. However, MarketIndex cautioned that a high dividend yield can indicate a falling share price or limited growth prospects.

Here are three of the ASX dividend shares that fit the above screens:

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN)

Harvey Norman Holdings is the business that is behind the Harvey Norman stores that sell appliances, devices, furniture and so on. In Australia it operates a franchisee model. According to the ASX, Harvey Norman has a market capitalisation of $5.63 billion.

The ASX share reported double digit profit growth in FY20. Profit after tax went up 19.4% to $480.5 million whilst profit after tax excluding AASB 16 and revaluations went up 30.9%.

There has been a vibrant retail performance this year by several ASX retailers such as JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH), Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH) and Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK) despite the impacts of COVID-19.

At the end of FY20 it paid a special dividend of 6 cents per share and also just paid a dividend of 18 cents per share. That brings the trailing grossed-up dividend for the ASX share to 7.55% at the current Harvey Norman share price.

DEXUS Property Group (ASX: DXS)

Dexus is one of Australia’s biggest real estate businesses – it’s a real estate investment trust (REIT). It owns $16.5 billion of office and industrial properties.

The REIT has a market capitalisation of $9.84 billion according to the ASX. The Dexus share price is still down by 33% compared to the pre-COVID-19 crash price.

Dexus recently gave an update. For the three months to 30 September 2020, it said its office occupancy by income was 95.4%, down from 96.5% at 30 June 2020. However, its office weighted average lease expiry (WALE) increased by 0.1 years to 4.3 years. The industrial portfolio’s occupancy by income reduced to 94.8% at 30 September 2020 and the WALE was maintained at 4.1 years.

The REIT has a $10.4 billion development pipeline, which it says provides the opportunity to grow and enhance future returns.

In terms of the distribution guidance, the ASX dividend share is expecting the distribution to be consistent with the FY20 distribution guidance of 50.3 cents which amounts to a yield of 5.6% at the current Dexus share price if it were to pay the same distribution again.

Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ)

This is a railroad business that owns a large railway network that carries a lot of resources across its network.

According to the ASX, its market capitalisation is $7.13 billion.

FY20’s profit growth supported growth of the dividend. Its underlying earnings per share (EPS) went up by 15% to 27.2 cents and statutory EPS grew by 30%. That helped FY20’s total dividend climb by 15% to 27.4 cents.

At the current Aurizon share price, that trailing dividend amounts to a dividend yield of 9.5% with the Aurizon share price falling by around 25% since 3 July 2020.

In FY21 Aurizon is expecting underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to be between $830 million to $880 million, which would represent a decline from $909 million in FY20.

More reading

• 3 ASX dividend shares with yields above 5%
• Why REITs led the pack on the ASX today
• ASX property shares buoyed by latest market data
• 3 ASX 200 shares that received broker upgrades last week
• 6 major events for ASX shares this week

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ADAIRS FPO and Aurizon Holdings Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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PayGroup Ltd (ASX: PYG) announced today it has completed its acquisition of Payroll HQ Pty Limited. Payroll HQ is an Australian-based outsourced payroll provider with high quality corporate client base, delivering approximately 120,000 payslips annually. The PayGroup share price was up 5.45% in early trading but has since retreated to a price of 56 cents, up 2.73% .

Headquartered in Melbourne, PayGroup provides payroll and human capital management solutions. The company has operations in 11 countries, with more than 995 clients, and processes more than 5 million payslips per annum.

For the first quarter of FY21, PayGroup announced record contract growth of $5.4 million in contract wins. This was up 93% on the prior corresponding period, and 98% of its entire FY20 total contract value.

What’s moving the PayGroup share price?

Payroll HQ offers Software-with-a-Service (SwaS) payroll outsourcing services based in Sydney. At the time of sale, it has 100 corporate clients in Australia and New Zealand. All contracts have 3 year recurring revenue terms with automated renewals in place and a client retention of >95%.

The acquisition is worth the equivalent of $2.535 million, payable through the issue of 4,122,694 PayGroup shares at $0.615. A further earnout of circa $1.28M is expected to be achieved based on the FY21 forecast revenue.

The acquisition immediately adds 100 clients with significant cross-sell opportunities. Moreover, PayGroup plans to appoint the experienced Australian-based sales team to help drive PayGroup’s growth strategy. The company expects the acquisition will add $2.25 million in revenues. 

What did management say?

PayGroup managing director Mark Samlal said the Payroll acquisition would “significantly transform” PayGroup’s SwaS payroll presence and increase sales capabilities in Australia.

Payroll HQ has an excellent client base and sales pipeline, and is led by a group of experienced and high-performing industry experts. In this current environment, when payroll is so critical to the livelihood of workers, and cost efficiency and agility is a crucial element for all businesses in a post-lockdown economy, we see significant opportunity to grow this business and we welcome the Payroll HQ team on-board.

Payroll HQ Chief Executive Officer Ross Heron also welcomed the move, saying:

We see real benefits of integrating our business with PayGroup and have already identified many of their product lines – such as Treasury Services and HCM SaaS modules – as being highly attractive to our client base…We believe that working together with PayGroup will put us in the best position to capitalise on post-pandemic business opportunities.

More reading

• PayGroup (ASX:PYG) share price falls despite positive update
• PayGroup (ASX:PYG) share price moves higher on contract win
• What’s driving the PayGroup (ASX:PYG) share price higher today

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Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) shares are this morning on the rise after the company released an update on its performance for the first quarter of 2021 today. At the time of writing, the Woolworths share price is trading 0.15% higher at $38.87. 

The retailer posted a strong performance, with first quarter sales of $17.9 billion, up 12.3% compared to the previous corresponding period. 

The strong performance is mainly driven by Woolworths’ Australian food sales, which rose 12.9% to $12.0 billion.

“It has been a pleasing start to F21 with all retail businesses delivering strong sales growth and customer metrics remaining solid,” the company said.

Highlights from the Q1 update

• Group sales of $17.9 billion is 12.3% higher versus Q1 2020.
• Group e-commerce sales of $1.5 billion up by 87% vs Q1 2020. The number also represents a 69% growth from Q4 2020.
• September group VOC NPS is 55, up +1 point versus September 2019. VOC NPS is basically a survey of a sample of Woolworths customers in which Woolworths is rated on several criteria. It represents the number of satisfied customers (score of 9 or 10) minus the number of less-satisfied customers (score of 6 or below).
• Australian food sales rose 12.9% to $12.0 billion.
• Big W sales rose 20.4% to $1.1 billion.
• Hotel sales were down 33.2% to $313 million.
• Endeavour sales in New Zealand rose 11.8% to $2.97 billion.

The company also announced that it paid $164 million in the quarter to remediate salaried staff for salary payment shortfalls. In total, $281 million has been paid to date.

“Despite the Victorian closures, hotels was profitable in the first quarter but materially down on last year. For the rest of the calendar year, we expect elevated sales and costs to continue as customers spend more time at home, continue to embrace eCommerce and we ensure our stores and DCs remain COVIDSafe,” Woolworths said.

These results came on the back of a relatively disappointing full year results Woolworths announced in August, where its net profit after tax (NPAT) had declined by 1.2% even after posting a sales increase of 8% during the financial year.

About the Woolworths share price

The Woolworth’s share price is 7.14% higher in year-to-date trading. Despite outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), the Woolworths share price is trailing the performance of supermarket rival Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL). At the time of writing, the Coles share price has surged more than 21% in 2020. 

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• What to expect from the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) Q1 update this week
• Why I would buy Woolworths (ASX:WOW) and these shares for a retirement portfolio
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 has another shocker as US election approaches
• Are Coles (ASX:COL) or Woolworths (ASX:WOW) shares a better ASX dividend buy today?

Motley Fool contributor Eddy Sunarto has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET and Woolworths Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The world’s largest ever initial public offering (IPO) has been suspended just days before go-live.

Ant Group is a fintech giant established by China’s wealthiest man, Jack Ma. The company was due to float simultaneously in Shanghai and Hong Kong on Thursday after raising $51 billion.

It would have had a market capitalisation of more than $435 billion, making it the biggest share market debut in history.

But in a remarkable development overnight, Chinese regulators reportedly stopped the float from going ahead.

The announcement on the Shanghai stock exchange forced its Hong Kong counterpart to also suspend Ant’s public debut.

Reuters reported the suspension came after Ma and other Ant executives met with regulators on Monday.

Ant’s online lending arm would require further scrutiny, the authorities reportedly told the executives.

“The Communist Party has shown the tycoons who’s boss,” GEO Securities chief, Francis Lun, told Reuters. 

“Jack Ma might be the richest man in the world but that doesn’t mean a thing. This has gone from the deal of the century to the shock of the century.” 

The surprise development sent shares of Ant’s parent company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA) into freefall on the New York Stock Exchange. 

The stock lost 8.1% overnight, to mercifully close at US$285.57.

Alibaba is also listed as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (HKG: 9988) in Hong Kong, which may also experience some turbulence Wednesday.

Ant Group started life in 2004 as a platform known as Alipay, as an escrow payments facilitator on Alibaba.

The company has since rebranded and broadened its offerings to lending, insurance and investment.

According to CBInsights, Ant Group increased its profit by more than 1,000% to $4.4 billion, while its revenue also went upwards 40% to more than $13 billion.

Just the Alipay part of the business facilitates more than 50% of mobile payments by volume in China. 

Ant Group split off from Alibaba in 2011 to obtain a digital payments licence. 

More reading

• A look into Mike Cannon-Brookes’ share portfolio
• Is it still safe to invest in China?

Tony Yoo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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If you’re a growth investor, then you’re in luck. This is because there are a number of companies on the Australian share market that have been growing at a rapid rate in recent years.

Two standouts are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

This machine learning and artificial intelligence data services company has been a strong performer in 2020. During the first half of FY 2020, the company reported a 25% increase in revenue to $306.2 million. This was driven by its key Relevance segment, which provides annotated data to be used in search technology for improving the relevance and accuracy of search engines, social media applications, and e-commerce websites. The Relevance segment delivered a 34% increase in revenue to $273.9 million, which offset weakness in its Speech & Image segment. The latter reported a 20% decline in revenue to $31.9 million.

Pleasingly for shareholders, management spoke positively about the future. Chairman, Chris Vonwiller, commented: “We are especially pleased with this result amidst the pandemic and the implementation of our growth initiatives. The strength of our business model, market exposure, competitive position and our consistent execution give us the confidence to push forward with our investments to solidify future growth.”

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

This ecommerce company has been a remarkably positive performer in 2020 thanks to the accelerating shift to online shopping.  The COVID-19 pandemic has sent millions of consumers online for their shopping, many for the first time, which has led to companies like Kogan benefiting greatly.

After delivering strong sales and profit growth in FY 2020, Kogan’s growth has gone up a level early in FY 2021. For example, during the month of August, the company reported gross sales growth of more than 117% and adjusted EBITDA growth of more than 466%. This was driven by the addition of 152,000 new customers to its platform during the month, bringing its total to 2,461,000.

More reading

• Appen (ASX:APX) share price boosted by upgrade
• Summer is coming, and none too soon for ASX retail landlords
• Here’s what the US election means for investors
• 2 top ASX tech shares to buy after the recent market turmoil
• Is the Adore Beauty (ASX:ABY) share price in the buy zone?

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Kogan.com ltd. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The three ASX shares I’m going to mention in this article are rated as ‘buys’ by several brokers.

Broker recommendations give an indication where market analysts think there are buying opportunities for investors. Share prices change all the time, so sometimes a broker could think an ASX share is a buy at one price and perhaps a sell if it were significantly higher.

Investment site MarketIndex regularly collates the ratings of brokers together to assess what the broker community collectively think are opportunities. Just because several brokers think something is a buy doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to do well, but it may reveal some insights.

With that in mind, here are three ASX shares that brokers like:

Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)

Sydney Airport is the business that operates the Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport. According to the ASX, it has a market capitalisation of $15.65 billion. It’s one of the largest businesses on the ASX despite the COVID-19 difficulties.

Sydney Airport is rated as a buy by at least eight analysts. The Sydney Airport share price has fallen by 34% since the middle of January. Share price falls often heighten broker interest to evaluate if there is value.

The ASX share has been suffering from the lack of travel because of COVID-19 impacts. In its latest monthly traffic update for September 2020 it said that its domestic travel was down 95.7% to 98,000. International passengers were down 97.5% to 34,000. This meant that total passengers compared to September 2019 was down 96.4% to 132,000.

However, the company recently pointed out that travel restrictions between NSW and SA and NSW and the NT were lifted on 1 October and 9 October respectively. One-way quarantine travel from New Zealand to NSW commenced on 16 October.

Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)

Brickworks is a construction business that has a variety of brands that produces different building products like bricks, paving, masonry, precast and roofing.

The ASX share has a market capitalisation of around $2.7 billion according to the ASX. It’s rated as a buy by at least six analysts.

Brickworks has recently reported growing monthly order books in a sign of a recovery from the worst of the COVID-19 impacts. The Brickworks share price is up 46% since 22 April 2020.

There are two other elements to the Brickworks business. It owns around 40% of diversified investment conglomerate Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL).

It also owns 50% of an industrial property trust along with Goodman Group (ASX: GMG). This property trust will soon count Amazon and Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) as tenants in Sydney after two huge, advanced distribution warehouses are built on the next couple of years.

Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)

Bapcor is the largest automotive parts business in Australia which operates under a number of different brands including Burson and Autobarn. It also has a number of other specialist wholesale businesses such as electrical components.

The ASX share has a market capitalisation of $2.61 billion according to the ASX. It’s rated as a buy by at least nine analysts.

The Bapcor share price plunged during the March 2020 crash as the number of cars on the road plummeted. But the Bapcor share price has risen 142% since 23 March 2020.

Bapcor shares have been driven higher and it recently gave its FY21 first quarter update. It reported that Burson Trade revenue was up 10% up on the prior corresponding period, whilst total revenue was up 27% with strong retail sales at Autobarn.

Management of Bapcor said that the automotive aftermarket is a resilient industry and historically has performed strongly in difficult economic circumstances. The company’s CEO, Darryl Abotomey said: “We envisage that the impacts of COVID-19, including the expected increase in domestic tourism and increased use of vehicles will continue to drive the Bapcor businesses.”

More reading

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• Top brokers just upgraded the ResMed (ASX:RMD) share price and this other ASX stock
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 has another shocker as US election approaches
• 3 ASX blue chip shares to buy for dividends
• Why the Brickworks (ASX:BKW) share price is a strong buy

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bapcor, Brickworks, and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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